WHO declares international health emergency over rare Ebola strain
In a statement, the UN health agency said 80 suspected deaths, eight laboratory-confirmed cases and 246 suspected cases had been reported.
Alarm over a growing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda intensified after the World Health Organization declared it a “public health emergency of international concern”.
The WHO said the outbreak, driven by the Bundibugyo virus, falls short of the threshold for a pandemic emergency. Even so, it warned that countries sharing land borders with the DRC face a high risk of further transmission.
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In a statement, the UN health agency said 80 suspected deaths, eight laboratory-confirmed cases and 246 suspected cases had been reported.
The DRC health ministry said on Friday that 80 people had died in the new outbreak in the eastern province.
The outbreak is “extraordinary” because, unlike Ebola-zaire strains, there are no approved therapeutics or vaccines specifically targeting the Bundibugyo virus, the WHO said.
The agency added that the DRC-Uganda outbreak presents a public health risk to other countries, noting that some cases of international spread have already been documented.
The WHO urged countries to activate their national disaster and emergency-management mechanisms, while stepping up cross-border screening and checks along major internal roads.
In Kampala, Uganda’s capital, the WHO said two apparently unrelated laboratory-confirmed cases were reported, including one death, involving people who had travelled from the DRC.
The WHO also reported a laboratory-confirmed case in Kinshasa, the DRC capital, involving a person who had returned from Ituri.
People identified as Bundibugyo virus-disease contacts or cases should not travel internationally unless they are being medically evacuated, the WHO said.
The agency also called for confirmed cases to be isolated immediately and for contacts to be monitored every day, with national travel restricted and international travel barred until 21 days after exposure.
At the same time, the WHO said countries should not shut borders or curb travel and trade out of fear, warning that such moves could push people and goods through informal crossings that escape monitoring.
